UNS – Magdalena Asmara, a student of the Development Economics Study Program at the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, clinched third place in the Brilliant Youth Competition (BYC). The BYC is a Business Case Competition organized by LifeatBRI from November to December 2023.
Magdalena Asmara is the sole UNS student who participated in this competition. She mentioned that through the Brilliant Youth Competition, students have the chance to win funding of IDR 75 million and internship opportunities, leading to potential careers at Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI).
BYC provides a broad opportunity for students and recent bachelor’s degree graduates (S-1) who possess a competitive, collaborative spirit and are willing to showcase themselves by creating creative and innovative ideas to develop the economy, especially in the Indonesian banking industry in the future.
Her strong motivation and enthusiasm to participate in BYC have been proven by her success in winning third place in the Business Case Competition.
This BYC competition is not Magdalena’s first business case competition. She has frequently participated in similar competitions and has often brought home awards.
Magdalena explained that her primary reason for liking business case competitions is her interest in the banking and fintech worlds. She sees these competitions as challenging and enjoyable opportunities for her.
In the BYC competition, there are several selection stages that each participant must go through. It starts with document selection by submitting a curriculum vitae and a motivation letter. In the document selection stage, 30 finalists are chosen from a total of 1,400+ participants from 11 universities in Indonesia. After that, the 30 finalists are grouped into 10 teams based on the proportion of the chosen case themes. Seven days before the competition, a new case is provided for brainstorming by each group, followed by case analysis using various tools such as SCQA, Pastel TOWS, and others, followed by strategy discussions and presentations.
“Beyond that, it’s just about preparing yourself, making sure to always think positively, be optimistic, and don’t give up easily—just be confident,” Magdalena explained, as quoted from feb.uns.ac.id on Wednesday (January 24, 2024).
Throughout these selection stages, Magdalena undoubtedly faced various challenges.
The challenge in this competition is about how participants can ‘not only serve the best’ but also ‘make it different and interesting.’ Moreover, each team is formed by the committee, so everything is new and for the first time. Here, the teamwork and agility of each team are also challenged.
According to Magdalena, the effective tip and trick in this competition is “PDKT” (approach). “Participants must do ‘PDKT’ with the company profile, value, and goals of the company. Also, don’t forget ‘PDKT’ with team members because no matter how good the idea is, without good cooperation and teamwork, it will be less perfect,” she said.
Finally, Magdalena revealed one of her life mottos and motivations. “Don’t be afraid of failure; just keep trying until your failure stock runs out and you succeed,” she concluded. HUMAS UNS
Editor: Dwi Hastuti